If Not For Her

Chapter 33. "What happened?"

Annabeth woke up with a pounding headache. Last night wasn't her best. She somehow pulled herself up, it was a school day what was she thinking? She turned to see Nick sleeping on the chair in front of her bed. She looked down at her dress lying at the end of the bed. She was in her t-shirt and shorts. Did he? She was sure it wasn't him, he pulled her up. It was someone else, but she couldn't remember who.

"You are up," Nick said rubbing his eyes. She nodded as she felt the bitter taste of alcohol still lingering on her tongue. She felt nauseous, she shouldn't have had drinks yesterday,  she held her head with one head as the pounding continued at a merciless pace. "Come on we have school today," he said getting up.  "What time is it?" She asked. He opened the window as the cool breeze entered. It felt nice against her skin. She fell back into the bed. " Nice isn't it?" he asked "It is around 5 AM" he said. She groaned as she closed her eyes. Last night was a complete blur to her. She remembered dancing more than she ever did and someone holding her hair as she puked, that's all. "Get up, Bethy," he said as he sat beside her, softly rubbing her temple. It felt nice, she turned to him as he continued, "better?" He asked, pulling her up by her arm. "Much," she rested her head on his shoulder. He smelled of mint. She closed her eyes as he ran his hand up her back. "Lets go  down Bethy, we have to leave" he said, helping her stand.

She held his arm as she walked down the wooden stairs, everyone seemed to be in the same condition as her. "You feel any better?" Alex asked. "Yes," she held her head. "Here," Adam gave her a green juice. "What's this?" She asked, smelling the drink as another wave of nausea washed over her. Drinking was a bad idea. Very bad. "The cure," Chris said from the couch a similar glass in her hand. She took the first sip and gave up, "what in the world is this monstrosity?" she asked.

"Drink it or you will have to live with this pounding headache," Alex said walking past her. "I am pulling out the car, get outside". "Can't we just skip school?" Annabeth asked sitting next to Chris. Chris laid her head on Annabeth's shoulder as Annabeth rested her legs on Chris's lap. "Mum would kill me, if she hears you drank, just go to school and I should not say this but try sleeping in one of your class" he said. "the perfect son" Annabeth mocked. "Get up, Ollie. We are leaving" he said walking out of the door.

"What happened last night exactly?" Annabeth asked as Adam, sat beside them, "you don't remember?" He asked. "Not exactly," she said. "Well, I don't blame you we all kind of did too much," Chris said standing up. Adam helped her up, "hey did Emmalyn leave?" Annabeth asked him. "Yes, do you remember her?" He asked. "Of course I do," she said. Adam turned her by her shoulders. She was facing him, "Emmalyn helped you clean up last night. She was there for you, not us" he said.

That left Annabeth feeling a bit uneasy, Why would Emmalyn help her? She needed to thank her. "Ollie" she heard Alex call her from the car. She walked out of the house and sat in the backseat of Alex's car, while Adam dropped off Chris. Nick sat at the front, and Alex started the car. Annabeth rolled down the windows as she closed her eyes, drifting off to sleep avoiding their soft talking.

"Annabeth" she heard her name as she felt a slight push. "Wake up" she jolted up. They were in front of their house. "What is the-"
"6:30, now see we did not do anything, we just danced" Alex said. Annabeth searched for Nick, he was already walking towards his house."They would already know what happened" Annabeth said.
"Still, never admit it yourself" Alex helped her up. She got down. As soon as she walked in, a strong smell of eggs hit her nose, she saw Alex tightly pressing his lips together. He was nauseous too. "You two are back, how was it?" Their mother asked with a plate of scrambled eggs. She ran up to her room without a word. She heard Alex say, she was fine. She puked once again and ran a cold shower.

She felt a lot better after the shower. She changed into her crisp uniform and glasses. The headache was still there. She needed to rest, she walked back down. Alex quietly passed her a glass of water with medicine. She took it, "Are you ok, love? You look sick" their mother said. "I am fine, just a bit tired," she said. "Bye Mum we need to go," Alex quickly said. Annabeth sat in his car and rested her head against the cool window, "it gets better" he said. She just hummed.

On her way to class, she saw Emmalyn talking to Dexter, were they back again? She decided to talk to her in English class. She sat in her seat when she walked in, not a sign of a hangover. "You look fine?" Annabeth tried to start a conversation. "I was sober last night, how are you feeling?" Emmalyn asked, her voice having a distant tone. Did Annabeth say something yesterday?

"Thank you for taking care of me last night," she said. Emmalyn nodded, "you are welcome", she was back to her book and for the rest of the class Annabeth could not focus on anything else. "Hey, Emmalyn" she called out when the class ended.

"Yesterday we could not do the studying, the competition is nearing so I was wondering if you would like to do it today" Annabeth asked, she wanted to spend time with her. Emmalyn seemed to think, "I am sorry I can't I have a date" Annabeth felt a bit of something, sure she would feel bad, over the days they have become great friends and now they were not hanging out. She should feel bad, shouldn't she?

"Oh, okay. Have fun" she turned around leaving Emmalyn before she could say something. Why was she feeling bad?